teaching guide

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR FIRST CHARACTER CAN NOT BE A PROFESSOR CHARACTER.

Playing a professor character comes with various additional tasks and difficulties when compared to student characters. We highly recommend you take some time to settle in with a student first, then take the opportunity to examine our existing professor characters and classes before deciding to take on a professor character.

So, you've decided you want to teach on WURR. Excellent, welcome! We're happy to have you here! If you're unsure of how to get started, please continue reading!

HOW TO OBTAIN A PROFESSOR[>

You may make a professor or Hogwarts staff character provided the subject or position you desire is still open. Staff may add subjects if the demand for professors grows, but this will be done at staff discretion.

If you have decided you would like to make a professor but are still mulling over all the details of their personality and history, you may reserve your desired subject so no one else takes it by PMing an administrator with your request. Reserves last one month.

If you would like a professor, but are not making one as your freebie character, you must follow the character creation rules and receive permission from an administrator. However, you do not need to have met the requirements for a new character to reserve a subject.

Because there are a limited number of professor positions, each member is only allowed one professor character, and inactive professors will be removed from their subjects. Professors are counted as 'active' by putting up at least one class in their subject per term.

Heads of House are appointed at administrator discretion, and are typically given only if the position will factor in to the character's development in some way. Heads of House must be Hogwarts alumni.

If you at any point desire to switch subjects, providing that the subject you wish to switch to is open, you may do so--just PM an administrator letting them know about it. If you would like to switch subjects with another person, and they agree, please have both individuals PM an administrator.

Lessons

Lessons, of course, are the most important part of being a professor. In order to remain active, you must post at least one lesson per term. Of course, that is just the minimum requirement. You may post as many lessons as you wish per term! For reference, a term lasts three months. If you forget, just remember that each season is a term, and since there are four seasons and twelve months, doing the math gives you 3 months a term!

Lessons can be about anything you want, as long as it relates somehow to the subject you have taken! They can also be in any format you wish, although it is recommended that you structure the class in a manner that facilitates professor-student or student-student interaction.

Most lessons are a combination of IC post, OOC instructions, and OOC housekeeping, which includes things like dice rolls or hints. For the best lessons, make sure that your posts give students something to work off of. Have your post include some sort of reaction to something a student's done, or something to progress the lesson forwards.

Make sure you know your subject! There are many internet resources regarding the majority of these subjects, such as Pottermore or other compilations of Harry Potter canon. Please note that you must stick to Harry Potter canon where it has explicitly been mentioned, as on the rest of the site.

You may repeat lessons per term if there is a lack of activity in a certain lesson and you would like to see it continued, but if we notice that you have been repeating a lesson for multiple terms without good reason, we may disallow you from repeating the lesson again.

Please note that it may be difficult to generate activity in classes due to various out-of-character situations. Please keep this in mind when planning classes.

Assignments + Exams

Like all good teachers, you may assign homework as a Professor! While failure to complete homework may result in IC consequences, there will be no OOC consequences for not completing homework.

As a general rule of thumb, homework should be no longer than ten questions, if you give homework questions, and no longer than 300-400 words, if you ask for an essay for homework.

Just like in a real class, students should hand in their assignments privately, through PM, rather than in a thread where everyone might see their answers. Homework should be written IC, not OOC.

You may post the grades of students publicly within your class subforum, if you wish. Please remember that grades should reflect students IC, and not OOC. This is for fun, after all!

If you would like to hold exams, you may do so. Exams may be as frequent or as infrequent as you desire. You may choose to conduct exams like homework (that is, questions or essays PMed to you), or you may choose to hold exams like a class and have students perform a practical exam.

Grading + House Points

Points given in class may be submitted, by professors, for house points. IC house points (that is, the points given in class) DO NOT transfer to OOC house points on a 1:1 scale.

10 IC house points = 2 OOC house points

When you submit participation points, please convert your points when you submit--that is, if character A earned 10 house points in class, submit 2 house points in the house points thread.

Because IC house points convert to real house points, there is a cap on how many house points a character can earn in regards to class related activity. They are as followed:

While you may take away IC house points, you may not take away house points OOC. So while your professor may take away house points as a punishment IC, it should not affect the total number of IC participation house points used to calculate OOC house points.

Please do not penalize students for not attending classes by taking away house points, even if they did sign up for classes! Classes should be a supplemental experience to WURR, and are a supplemental way for people to earn house points, if they so desire.

Conclusion

As a professor, it is your job to submit your classes and earned house points in the current term's house points thread, which you can find HERE.

Above all, remember to have fun! Professordom is a wonderful experience, and should be throughly enjoyed! And as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask a staffer.

Reminder: you must have at least one class during a term to be counted as an active professor, or you must have posted in the last 60 days to be counted as a school staff character, and to stay on this list.

You must post the form below in this thread to claim a subject.

To be (re)instated as a professor or school staff member, please post the form below: